Cultural preview

0 commentsRussell Richards’ new stuff is, in many ways, not much of a departure from his black and wicked City Series. The basic aesthetic is still in place– rubbery, twisted bodies with sharp elbows and...

0 commentsI don't usually review just opening acts, but this week, after hearing Caroline Herring's debut CD, Twilight, I thought I'd make an exception– maybe I could provide a little brick in the path...

0 commentsWith mandatory water restrictions in place for both the city and county, residents everywhere scan the skies for dark clouds. The less optimistic eye the reservoirs with an ever-increasing...

0 commentsMy grandmother used to say, "Many hands make light work." She was the youngest of 10 children and spent her entire life on a farm, where every day was filled with chores that proved easier when...

0 commentsI don’t want to go back to high school. No one I know wants to go back to high school. However, this isn’t the case with a few new Peggy Sue Got Married-style shows on the big networks, and also for...

0 commentsBack in the days when technology jobs appeared limitless and hot-shot new enterprises challenged the gospel of conventional business practices, there was an enthusiastic notion that soon the nation...

0 comments“Arr. Methinks the Pirate Mark does not like these sea shanties, laddy.”That was basically all I had to say after seeing Elf Power for the first time, when they opened for Wilco last year. I had no...

0 commentsCircles of 19th century women with nimble fingers gathered around sitting room fires crafting masterpieces fine enough to display as art. Because this was utilitarian “women’s work,” however, these...

0 commentsWho knew that Virginia would become such a boon to the viticulture industry? For the last 20 years or so, vineyards have sprouted (so to speak) exponentially across the state, producing on a regular...

0 commentsGrab your dancing shoes and head over to the McGuffey Art Center on Friday afternoon in time to join the “Dance Technique Class” which is a prelude to a performance by the Arlington-based Jane...

0 commentsTwo years ago, Meg West’s focus shifted from graphic design to oil painting, and the inspiration for that change is obvious in every one of her paintings. A resident of Crozet, West paints what she...

0 commentsI’m trying to decide what I like best about George Singleton’s new collection of short stories. It might be the title, The Half-Mammals of Dixie, or it might be the jacket cover– a portrait of...

0 commentsI was raised on the Beatles, and their lite-punk pop cousins Nirvana, and for a large part of my early life, these were the groups by which I would measure all other popular music. In other words, I...

0 comments“Americans don’t like soccer,” NPR sports commentator Frank Deford said the other day on Morning Edition. “We know that,” he repeated emphatically. “Americans do not like soccer.”Well, I don’t know...

0 commentsVegetarianism has hit the mainstream. Once associated only with the counterculture or other countries, being vegetarian now ceases to raise eyebrows, And like most good movements, it has spawned as...

0 commentsThere’s a new drama school in town, and it's getting good reviews. Barely a year old, Charlottesville School for the Dramatic Arts (CSDA) already offers a full slate of classes and productions and...

0 commentsIn childhood, painter Jeannine Barton Regan suffered a partial hearing loss. Like most children faced with an added and significant obstacle to communication, Regan reacted by becoming an introvert....

0 commentsFew rock bands, even the ones we regard as “the greats,” hit on a signature sound right out of the starting gate. Paul McCartney’s “I’ve Just Seen a Face” started off the Beatles first LP, Please...

0 commentsAs days turn cooler and fall fragrances fills the air, it won’t be long ‘til we’re playing in piles of crisp, colorful leaves and sipping steamy mugs of hot apple cider. Not only do Albemarle...

0 commentsAll religions celebrate feast days in some manner or other, but although the reasons may be similar, the manifestations can vary dramatically. Fortunately, our country allows us the freedom and...

0 commentsAs even the semi-saavy are now well aware, merchandisers like J-Crew, Abercrombie and Fitch, and Pottery Barn have gone beyond simply and straight-forwardly advertising their products. Now they...

0 commentsThe banking rumor for Philadelphia’s AM/FM is that they never meant for their four-track songs to leave the basement. According to the story, friends heard, tapes were passed, label deals were made,...

0 commentsNot long after my family and I moved here— from a much larger city, I have to say— our next-door neighbor offered my kids free tickets to a UVA men’s basketball game at University Hall. “They can go...

0 commentsBenefiting a good cause, digesting some delicious food, and walking leisurely through some of Charlottesville more interesting downtown houses seems like a recipe for success. Curiosity seekers,...

0 commentsIt’s 1942 and three generations of an endearing family mingle and grow while the world goes to war. In Lost in Yonkers, America’s most well-known comic playwright, Neil Simon, shares a tender memory...

0 commentsMost people just sweep them off the sidewalk. But for Sara Crisp and Fleming Cunningham Lunsford, two artists sharing space this month at the Second Street Gallery, Nature’s detritus– seeds,...

0 commentsThe obligatory disclaimer in the front of Mission Compromised (you know the one: “This is a fictional story… any similarity to actual events is coincidental”) is about as perfunctory as the recently...